Take a bike ride through the rice paddy fields
It is time for some outdoor activities. It is possible and worth a trip around renting a bike at a really cheap price, the range is from $1 up to a few dollars, and have a tour around the village. You can see the energetic daily life of the villagers and admiring the beauty of the rice paddy fields as well as the highland scenery.
Strangely, the rice paddy fields in Vietnam hold appeal, yet those on the Northern mountainous areas like in Mai Chau, are unexplainable charming. Touring around the village on a bike will make you feel like you are a part of the life here. Everything is photogenic, from the children playing and laughing to the farmers with their buffaloes on the golden or green lush field. They deserve to be captured in your eyes and also your camera.
Stay with a local family
While there a few lovely hotels and lodges in the Mai Chau valley, we recommend staying in a homestay while in the area. Almost every house in the various villages has a few extra beds to house visitors and many have a separate building just for guests. Sleeping is usually communal but the beds are very cosy, the food is fantastic and you will have an insight into how local Thai families live.
Try the local cuisine
Talking about eating, it would be a big mistake if you skip trying local delicacy. Mai Chau has a lot of famous local dishes, all of them are guaranteed to make your mouth water.
The bamboo rice is a daily part of the meals in Mai Chau. This dish is cooked by simple pressing wet rice with added salt, into bamboo tubes, and cooking on direct heat. It surely goes with a tasty dipping mixture of peanuts, salt and other ingredients.
Discover Mo Luong caves and Chieu caves
Two natural cavern systems with thousand-year-old stalactites and stalagmites, they are mother of nature's magnificent works of art. Filled with mineral structures of all shapes, sizes, and colors, these caves give tourists the feeling similar to that you get wandering into an ancient world of primitive creations. Such unique experience cannot be ignored by those adventurous at heart.
To get to the entrance of the Chieu cave, visitors must climb 1200 steps. This cavern system is made up of two levels, 150m in total length with majestic mineral structures, many of which were named after their shapes by the locals. At the end of the journey lies a river.
Shop for local handicrafts
Mai Chau is one of the best places to go shopping in Vietnam as the range of local handicrafts is amazing. You will notice a lot of the same things on offer in the streets of Ha Noi but this is the source of all that creativity. Buy from the ladies here and you will get fairer prices while giving directly to the artisans and weavers themselves.
Visit Go Lao Waterfall
It is time for you to visit sightseeing destination. The first place is Go Lao waterfall, also called Go Mu waterfall. It is about 15 km away from Mai Chau town. You will be fascinated by the pristine beauty, rustic of this small waterfall.
The road to Go Lao Waterfall is quite hard to conquer, but it worth the effort once you see the waterfall. The scenery of the waterfall is frequently described as majestic and poetic, even the difficult road has its own lively beauty with Muong houses at the foot of the mountains and the dreamy Ba Khan lake.